Butterflies and blood
by lost-in-otaku
Summary: Follow young Emily Hagraven as she learns to live in Central city alone after her parents are killed in an Chimera attack. See her ups and downs, successes and failures as she learns to preform alchemy, and to love as she journeys to become the next state alchemist. (rated M for adult themes and content in later chapters.)
1. Chapter 1

I do not own FMA or any of its affiliates. Please enjoy.

(SPOILER: Emily is a character of my own making. She is not apart of the original FMA world, and neither are her parents or uncle.)

Chapter 1:

Blood was everywhere, it seeped into the braided carpet and ran out over the stone floor. Long streaks of it that began in star-burst at the top ran down the walls of the small room. The thing that most disturbed young Emily was the blood that seemed to continually seep from her parents, who where carelessly thrown over each other in a heap in the middle of their small living room. Her silver eyes where wide with terror as she sat on her knees in the growing puddle of blood that was once her living room carpet. Her brown locks fell around her shoulders limply, some of the silky tresses where now sticky and red with fresh blood. Her face was streaked with tear and brown muck, a sick mixture that hid her usually pretty features.

There was a man there after a while, trowing a gray sheet respectively over her dead parents and blocking the sickening sight from her vision which was still slightly blurred with tears. A blonde woman in a starched blue and white uniform was wrapping her in a coat and muttering soothing words in her ear which she ignored. Voices where all around her as her small home slowly filled with people. One man who seemed to be in charge patted her head. He had odd white gloves with transmutation circles on the palms and nicely kept black hair. His uniform matched the woman's, and pretty much everyone else in the room but for herself and a strange golden haired boy with a bright red coat and a tall man in armor. The man who had patted her head squatted down before her and met her silver eyes with his deep blackish brown ones.

"Do you know what they where after? The ones who did this to your parents." He asked in an authoritative voice. She shook her head slowly and pointed towards her fathers study.

"They went in there." She croaked, her voice sore from crying. He nodded and placed one hand on her shoulder, squeezing it tenderly

"Perhaps it would be best if we got the girl away from here Colonel Mustang sir." the blonde woman had appeared at her side and was saluting the man, Colonel Mustang. He nodded and pointed towards the open front door with a wave of his hand.

"Havoc is outside, He can take her to Central and we will find a safe place from there, you never know, they may return for her." He stated and gave her a gentle smile, "Don't you worry, we will protect you." He assured her warmly. All she could think was: why didn't you protect my parents? Blindly she allowed the woman to lead her out of the dimly lit house and into the shockingly bright light of the midday sun. A blonde man with a haircut that resembled something a three year old would think of and a fine coat of stubble on his chin was leaned against a very important looking black car with the symbol of Amestris embezzled on the door. He was halfway through smoking a cigarette and simply allowing the ashes to fall between his slightly scuffed military boots. She was led to stand before the back door of the car and then told to wait there as the blonde woman spoke in quick whispers to the blonde man. After a moment the man seemed to materialize before her eyes.

"Hi there, the names Havoc, Jean Havoc." he held his hand out politely for her to shake. She looked at the hand for a second, ungloved and scarred with tobacco stains at the tip of his two longest fingers, this man was a military official, not an alchemist.

"Emily Hagraven." She stated as she accepted his hand and gave it a quick shake. It felt odd to be so formal at a time like this. She could still smell the blood and rotting smell of death that was seeping from her home like a black cloud. A flash of red from the front door of her home caught her eye and she turned her head to see the strange red coated boy who was leading the armored man outside with a sour look on his face. Havoc waved them over with a smile that caused him to drop his now spent cigarette. She moved closer to the car, running one finger over a chrome door handle, tying to do anything but look at what once was her home. Suddenly the three of them where walking towards her, the man in the armor looked meek and scared to her, nervous energy seemed to jump from his shiny frame as they drew closer and closer. she noticed that te boys eyes matched his hair in an eerie too perfect way that made her wonder if maybe they where fake.

"Emily, this is Edward and Alphonse Elric. They will be joining us on our trip to Central." Jean Havoc stated through his new cigarette that he was busy lighting with a fancy looking lighter.

"H-hi Emily, nice to make your acquaintance." the Armored man held out a hand to her and she watched as it shook slightly," My name is Alphonse Elric."

"Nice to meet you Alphonse." she said with a forced smile as she reached to accept his hand.

"Why are you being so formal and stiff! You just had a terrible thing happen to you, you can at least cry." The blonde who she assumed was Edward Elric jumped between them quickly, stopping the polite shake before their hands touched, "Come on we have to get to central before Winry." he muttered as he shot a glare at Alphonse.

"Sorry brother, I wasn't thinking." Alphonse looked nervous once again as her rubbed the shiny helmet like someone would rub their head. She thought this was odd as the front door was opened for her by the kind Havoc. She gave him a polite nod and slid into the leather covered passenger seat. After a moment the car sagged with the weight of his armor as Alphonse climbed in the backseat behind her, followed by the sour and sullen Edward. Havoc climbed into the drivers seat beside her and smiled.

"Everyone ready?" he asked as he cranked the car, sending the vibrations from the engine up her spine. She slumped in her seat and rested her head against the glass of the window. Her eyes watered as the car pulled away and turned to go down the driveway. She watched the small cabin drift away from her in the rear-view mirror. As they pulled onto the main road the first of many more warm tears slid down her cheek. She tried to be quiet as she cried but the sobs she kept from escaping her throat caused her body to shake. She bit her lip and pulled her knees up to her chest as the tears cut warm lines down her cheeks. The other three seemed to politely ignore her tears as trees and houses fell away from her blurred vision to be replaced by concrete and brick buildings. The ride was quiet after her tears finally stopped. She was sitting a little straighter and even looking around in awe at the large official looking buildings as Havoc drove them towards the very heart of Central city.

A menacingly large white building loomed over the heart of Amestris and Central city. She looked upon it in awe as they drove closer and closer. Large bright green yards where separated by paved drives and perfectly trimmed hedges. large trees sat in the middle of each of the four yards with tables set up in octagons around them. She saw a few groups of blue and white uniformed soldiers running across a couple of the yards as their commanding officers called out orders to them. She noticed a few people at a group of tables with their noses in large books, a couple of the people had transmutation circles on gloves like the Colonel. She heard Edward groan from the back seat as they drew even closer to the large main building. Havoc shrugged and chuckled as a angry looking blonde girl approached their slowing car.

"Edward Elric!" The girl shouted as she leaned close to the back window, "What did i hear about your automail!" Emily briefly wondered why almost everyone was a blonde as the two exchanged loud angry sounding words from the backseat. She turned to look but stopped short when she caught Havoc's eye. His look he was shooting her said: stay out of it.

"Thank you for the ride Mr. Havoc." Alphonse's child-like voice called as he pulled his blonde brother from the car and away from the other girls wildly swinging wrench. Emily raised one eyebrow but kept quiet as Havoc waved goodbye to the three as they made their way into the large building.

"The boss is in for it this time for sure, He busted a valve in his arm and that Winry is so picky about that automail." Havoc chuckled as he pulled out of the drive for the Command center and back into the busy streets of the city. She frowned as she thought carefully over his words.

"Automail? wait is Alphonse your boss?" she asked as she scratched the dry muck from her cheek. She felt like she would never be clean again, even after a hundred baths.

"Oh no, Al is a sweet kid but Edward is who i call boss." He said with a smile as he flipped his spent cigarette out of his open drivers side window. She raised her eyebrow, sure the shorter guy had worn a coat in the middle of the summer, and gloves on each hand to boot but she didn't think he seemed like an amputee.

"When did he loose his arm?" she asked as she leaned back in her seat with her eyes fixed on him.

"When he was just a kid, I think he was eleven." Havoc shrugged, "he lost a leg too, Winry came through for him though. She built him automail and installed it in less than a month. He was pretty impressive too, managed to learn to use them like normal limbs in less than a year. It usually takes at least tree to go through the therapy he managed to fight his way through." He was smiling as he said each word, and she thought his eyes seemed to sparkle as he spoke.

"You sound like you have a lot of respect for him." She stated as they pulled up to a large apartment building.

"Yeah." He cut the car off and pulled the key from the ignition," I guess you're right, the kid lost everything but his brother, and he almost lost him. Now he is well on his way to being one of the best state alchemists I have ever seen." He shrugged and looked past her to the building beyond her window, "Ready to go meet the family you will be staying with?" he asked.

"Staying with?" she asked as her head turned quickly to scan the building. It was plain enough looking, just a red brick building with rows of evenly spaced windows and a fire escape running up one side.

"Oh yeah, the Hughes family. Nice people and Mrs. Hughes makes the best home made meals you have ever tasted." He patted her shoulder and opened his door. She waited a moment before following suit and stepping out of the car. She followed him up the cracking stone steps and into the surprisingly cool main hallway of the apartment building. there was an old-fashioned looking staircase that lead up to the floors above them. She studied the wrought iron railing as Havoc moved to read a sign on the wall nearby.  
He tapped her shoulder as he stepped on the first of many steps. She turned away from the shiny metal to look at his face, which seemed bare without a cigarette hanging from his lips. He pointed upwards wit the wave of his hand.

"They live on the fourth floor. their apartment number is 407." she nodded and allowed him to lead her up the three flights of stairs until they came out on the fourth floor. They came out across from a door marked 402. The rest of the doors but for 401 lined the other side of the hallway leading off to their left. She followed him, after his quick grumble about non smoking buildings, down the hallway until they reached the correct door. He knocked upon the dark wood of the door three times in a quick succession. After a pause the door creaked open to reveal a lovely older woman with light brown hair she had pulled back in a bun and the most beautiful green eyes Emily had ever seen.

"You must be Emily." The woman smiled at her warmly the way a mother would, sending a pang of sadness straight to her heart.

(End of chapter 1. Please review, the next chapter will be posted in twenty four hours. Hope you enjoyed!)


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

The Hughes family home was quaint and very warm feeling. Emily had entered not knowing what to expect and had been rewarded with a living room that looked much like one her own dear mother would have picked for their home. Two small couches faced each other with a small coffee table between them while two lounge chairs sat at opposite ends of said table. Jean Havoc sat in one of the chairs while she sat atone end of a light green colored couch. two steaming cups of tea sat on the table before them, Emily's tea was already half gone due to her drinking it quickly to calm her nerves when Mrs. Hughes had set it before her.

Mrs. Hughes was currently in the small kitchen pulling out a mouth watering fresh apple pie from her oven. A small girl who appeared to be around the age of two with adorable pigtails and big bright green eyes sat at the kitchen table that she could see through the opened door, the young girl was giggling and happily holding her arms out to her mother without a care in the world. Her eyes stung with new tears as she thought of her own mother; lying dead either still slumped over her father, or on an operating table where they would cut her open to find out what she already knew.

"Here." she looked up to see a white napkin as a warm tear slid down her cheek. She accepted Havoc's small gift and wiped her eyes until they where dry, and just in time. Mrs. Hughes and her daughter walked into the room just as she slid the napkin into her pocket.

"I hope you two are hungry." The nice woman sat the pie and four plates down one the coffee table and gave Emily a gentle smile.

"I'm starving, your food always taste so good, I couldn't turn down a single bite." Havoc  
stated as he wiped drool from his chin.

"how about you dear?" Mrs. Hughes smiled down at her with a plate already ladden with a large slice of pie ready and waiting.

"Thank you." she stated quietly as she accepted the offered plate.

"Gracia, how is your husband, haven't heard from him in a while." Havoc asked through a mouthful of pie. Emily opted to place her pie on the table and simply sip from her slowly cooling tea. The two adults shared a murmured conversation in which she caught the words "uncle" and "far away". Her uncle Albert immediately came to mind. He was a cheerful black haired man with bright brown eyes that always hid behind a pair of half moon specticals. She remembered fondly the times she would spend at his house with his pet greyhound Henry. he was a military official like Mr. Havoc, and was usually away from home, either fighting a gang of rogues or witnessing the signing of important papers.

"Are you gonna stay with us forever?" she looked down to see the young pig tailed girl staring up at her with bright green eyes.

"I don't know." She said slowly as she turned to the adults who where now looking at her. Gracia smiled and looked down as Havoc scratched his head.

"Well," He began," We are hoping to get in touch with your uncle, but you are about to be seventeen and that's a legal adult." she nodded solemnly as his words sunk in.

"So as soon as I am seventeen then I will be on my own." She stated as she dropped her head, "I guess that makes sense but, what about my belongings? I left everything back, back there." She did not want to say back at home, It was too painful to think of, all she could see when the word came to mind was a bloodstained world.

"The whole house has to be documented for evidence, it may take a while, I hope you understand." Havoc seemed to slowly sink into a depression as he spoke the words.

"In other words, I can't even have a change of clothes." She almost growled, sudden anger made her vision go red and her fists to clench," Some help you all are! You expect me to just go on without anything! Haven't I lost enough today!" She stood and ran from the apartment. Hot tears cut down her cheeks as she ran down each flight of stairs and out of the building. Her heart was pounding as she turned down a random street and began running once more.

"To hell with them!" she cried as she ran," To hell with all of those heartless bastards!" she didn't know where she was going, all she knew was she had to get away, From Gracia's sad eyes and Havoc's awkward glances. They felt pity for her but they where wrong. She was the daughter of Sarah and Louis Hagraven, two of the greatest alchemists she had ever known, she did not need their pity. She turned down an alleyway blindly and tripped on a loose brick, one of many that lined the sidewalks. She fell hard, skinning her hands and knees as she landed on the rough uneven ground. Her hands swelled and dripped with oozing red blood as she watched them. Her left palm was penetrated by a shiny rock that was turning a bright shade of crimson with her fresh blood. She squeezed her hands into fists, pushing the rock deeper into her flesh and ignoring the sharp pain it gave her.

"I hate them all!" she cried up at the clear sky between the buildings. Her tears where coming faster now. Falling in heavy drops from her chin to her chest, but she didn't care. She was bloody and filthy, and most of all she was completely alone in the world. Her heart felt like it was breaking all over again as she thought this.

"Well well well, I thought I heard someones pitiful cries." She looked up to see a dark haired woman wearing a skin tight dress that clung to her every curve and made her breasts very noticeable, almost as much as the tattoo that rested between them. The woman had sensual full lips and bright purple eyes that where half lidded as if she was bored of looking down at Emily. Her long slender arms where crossed just under her breasts and her legs where slightly apart, her left hip cocked out to the side as she stood there.

"Can I eat the girl?" A short, fat, bald man with a large nose and an even larger mouth appeared beside the strange woman. His huge arms dragged beside him and Emily watched in shock as he lifted one massive paw of a hand to his lips to press his index finger, which was roughly the size of her wrists, into them. A single thick line of drool seeped from his lips onto his finger as his purple eyes stared at her. He was in black, his tight tank top and pants where a deep ink black while his scuffed boots where a slightly lighter shade.

"Now now Gluttony my dear, look at her, You'll get a tummy ache if you eat her, she is much too bony." The woman's voice was like velvet laced with poison. It sounded so smooth and sweet but with a bitter edge that made Emily cringe away.

"Who, who are you? What do you want? I Don't have anything worth stealing." She stuttered as she used her sore hands to back away from the strange couple. Their purple eyes where mysterious and chilled her to the core.

"Who we are doesn't matter you little worm." the woman's voice cut through her as she slowly began to walk toward Emily, "Don't worry we aren't here to steal anything from you, we just need a victim, an example if you will." She reached out as if to touch Emily, who had a sudden burst of adrenaline which allowed her to jump up and turn away from the two. Then she took off faster than she had ever ran before.

Her feet pounded down on the pavement over and over as she ran down the street, past families and people who stopped to stare at her as if her actions where the strangest thing they have ever seen. She did not look back to see if the two where following her, to do that she would have to slow down and that did not feel like an option. She closed her eyes against the strange stares and pushed herself to run faster. A stitch bloomed painfully in her side but she did not slow down. Her heart was beating faster and faster in her ears, it was loud. So loud that she didn't hear who was yelling at her until she ran into a hard half metal half flesh chest. The impact sent her back onto her buttocks hard enough to knock the wind out of her lungs. She coughed and looked up through the blinding sunlight to see two gold orbs of eyes staring down at her. Blonde hair stood up in an antenna like way right above the eyes and right below them a mouth hung open in a look of shock and awe.

"Miss Hagraven?" She turned to see the shiny metal body that could only belong to Alphonse, just as the child-like voice could only be his as well. He held a large hand out which she accepted, allowing the large man to pull her to her feet," What are you doing here?" He asked as she futilely dusted off her clothes.

"These two strange people where chasing me. I think they where trying to kill me." She stated as she finally turned to look behind her only to see an almost empty street and no pursuers," I don't know where they went."

"Why where you on your own?" She turned to see Edwards angry gold eyes flash. It was odd to her, they where so full of worry a second before.

"I just had to have a moment alone." she was calming down now. Finally feeling safe enough to relax her legs and arms," Havoc, and Mrs. Hughes, they where just looking a me like I was some pitiful little girl. I lost my parents today, i don't need to loose my dignity as well." She fought back the tears that threatened the corners of her eyes, crying now would just make her seem like what she didn't want, a pitiful lost little girl.

"You look like you could use a warm shower, and maybe some food." Edward stated with a sigh," You might as well come with us, we kind of get what you're going through." He turned and waved his right hand in the air in a follow me motion. She turned to Alphonse who simply nodded and followed in line behind Edward. She rubbed her neck and winced at the pain it brought her still sore palm, and followed behind the two as they made their way down the street.

(I hope you enjoyed this chapter of Emily Hagraven's story, please feel free to post a review with suggestions or comments on the story so far. The next chapter will be posted within the next twenty four hours)


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

The brothers small apartment wasn't very impressive; other than the stacks and stacks of books laid around everywhere there was nothing but the bare essentials, and barely any of those. Emily felt her skin tingling from the rough scrubbing she had done during her quick shower. She now sat on a bed that felt as if it was never used and picking apart a peanut butter sandwich instead of eating it. Edward was laid across the bed beside the one she sat on. His mouth was open slightly and his metal hand rested lightly on his chest as he slept. He looked peaceful in his sleep, the line that she thought never left his forehead had smoothed out causing him to look younger and, she swallowed a lump that had formed in her throat as she studied him, attractive. Alphonse was squatted down by a table that looked much too small beside his large frame. He was vigorously studying a book that looked to be an alchemical science journal.

She sat the plate that she had finely shredded her sandwich onto on the bedside table between the two beds and moved to join him at the table. He did not look up from his book as she pulled a chair close and leaned near his shoulder to look at the page he was reading so diligently. It had a transmutation circle on it with a chart telling what every part of it meant and did. The page next to it was full of handwritten notes that where chicken scratch compared to the neatness of the diagram.

"You have to make sure each symbol goes in the correct place or else a toy wooden horse could turn into a smelly pile of dog doo." His voice shocked her for a moment before his words set in. She chuckled and shook her head.

"My father used to read these books to me every day during home-school hours, I don't think his words ever clicked up here." She tapped her temple twice as she spoke," I guess I just was never supposed to be an alchemist." She shrugged and picked a random book from the stack and opened it to the first page she saw.

"Your dad was Louis Hagraven, the medical alchemist that was working on replacing missing organs with animal parts. It was a big controversy because some other medicine based alchemists said that was one step away from chimeras." Alphonse looked up at her from his book as he spoke.

"That sounds like dad." She stated and rubbed her neck," My mom was sick, her lungs where bad and he was attempting to find a way to keep her alive. What good that did them." she sucked in a shaky breath after she spoke, the sting of tears causing her to blink her eyes furiously.

"I'm sorry for your loss." He stated solemnly. the tears came quickly to her eyes then, flowing freely down her stinging cheeks. He was the first one out of everyone that day that said any condolences about her parents. She threw her arms around his metal helmet and shoulders and let the sobs rock her body instead of trying to hold them back.

"Th-thank you." She stuttered through her tears. He seemed stunned for a moment before wrapping his arms around her and patting her back gently. She allowed the gentle giant to soothe her for a moment before pulling away and wiping her eyes on Edwards shirt which she borrowed after her shower. She smiled at him awkwardly and sniffled.

"I uh, I needed that. You're the only one to even mention my parents passing in a sad way. I know the military has to remain professional, but it just felt like everyone was being heartless bastards." She shook her head to clear it and reached down to pick up the book she had dropped when she hugged him.

"You shouldn't let them get to you, Mustang's a real hard ass but he takes care of the people around him. If not for him I wouldn't be a state alchemist and would probably still be in Resembool." She turned to see Edward sitting up in his bed and rolling his metal arm around his shoulder socket. She wondered how he lived with a prosthetic, it seemed to her that it would be an awkward heavy thing hanging from his body, but he made it look weightless and graceful.

She stood and rubbed her arm as she thought about what he said. He managed to get this far in life with just him and his brother, perhaps one day she could find a way to be happy without her own family. her stomach grumbled, finally at its breaking point of hunger. She eyed the peanut butter covered strips of bread and frowned.

"you don't like peanut butter?" Alphonse asked her. She blushed as both brothers eyes rested on her, not used to being apart of the spotlight.

"not really, it's too thick and sticky." she stated as she made her way to pick up the plate. Edward yanked it from her hand and tossed it in the garbage with a slight smirk. She looked between the two as chuckles seeped from Alphonse. Edward was strutting towards the phone on a wall nearby. She was confused as he dialed the numbers quickly and leaned against the wall. Alphonse simply shrugged and patted her shoulder.

"I hope you like noodles and meat sauce." He chuckled as he made his way past her to study another stack of book at the far wall of the room. She raised her eyebrow as her mouth hung slightly open in surprise at the sudden action she saw in the two boys.

"I am not against them." She said softly as Edward ordered food loudly over the phone. He shouted something about making sure milk wasn't on the menu as she sat back down at the table, the book Al was reading was still open on the page that had the scrawling writing and the diagram. She pulled the book closer, reading the diagram carefully then reading the notes written on the next page. The to handwriting's where so different yet so familiar to her. She gasped and about fell to the floor. The diagram was her mothers handwriting and the scrawling almost illegible notes where her fathers. She flipped the book to the first page and found her parents pen names: Scott and Laura Heathcross.

"This is one of my parents notebooks." She gasped as she looked wildly around the room.

"What!?" Alphonse appeared at her side looking over her shoulder. Edward hung up the phone and rushed to join them at the table.

"Whats going on here?" He asked with a hard look at his brother.

"Look, this is my parents fake names they picked to hide their secrets. They told me them once when we were having a family night. I thought it was just silly nicknames but they where actually using them for work." She looked down at the names in wonder as she spoke.

"That's impossible, we found that book in Central commands library." Ed stated as he scratched his head. Alphonse seemed full of nervous energy once again as he shifted between feet slowly and as quietly as he could.

"But my father was a state alchemist up until i was twelve. There's no telling how old these research notes are. My parents worked together for years before they married." She flipped through the pages and read the few side notes that her mother was responsible for writing. Each page looked like a complicated shopping list, but Emily knew how to really read it. She was shocked at what she discovered from her mothers words.

"They where trying to transform bear hearts into human, it says here tat they had to dispose of a chimera that was accidentally created by a faulty circle." The two boys leaned in close as she read from the book carefully,"Do you think that maybe they made a chimera that survived? That could be the killer." She rubbed her chin as she thought through what she had discovered.

"It's a possibility." Edward muttered as he leaned against her chair back. His braided pigtail tickled her head causing her to wave it away out of frustration. Al picked through the stack of books, looking through them for her parents fake names as she flipped through their journal looking for any other clue to what they had been working on. There was a silence in the apartment as each of them drifted into their own minds. The loud knocking that echoed through the apartment after twenty minutes interrupted their thoughts. Edward jumped into action, running towards the door and throwing it open to reveal a surprised looking delivery boy.

"Hi did someone order Brio's famous noodles and meat sauce?" The guy seemed nervous even though he stood a full head taller than Edward, who was writing a number on a sheet of paper and handing it to him.

"This is my state alchemist i.d. number and account number, take your payment from there." He stated as he yanked the bag from the delivery boys hand and shut the door,"Dinner." He said through a smile as he sat the bag on the table in front of her.

"It smells delicious." She said as she sniffed the steam coming from the bag. her mouth watered at the smell of the spicy and sweet meat sauce that she could smell.

"Just wait until you taste it, Brio's is my favorite restaurant in all of Central. They are a big city dine in with a small town feel." He pulled out two white boxes as he spoke and placed one in front of her. She chuckled at his enthusiasm.

"Are you discussing food or making an add for the restaurant?" She asked as she opened her box to be rewarded with a delicious looking plate of noodles and meat sauce. they where all topped with what looked like hand rolled miniature meatballs which caused her stomach to growl as soon as her eyes spotted them. She picked up her plastic covered fork and unwrapped it before twirling it in the noodles and pulling them to her mouth to take the first bite. It was delicious, the tangy sauce and spicy sausage-like meat mixed well with the smooth taste of the noodles.

"I guess I could always fall back on that if I decide that alchemy isn't for me." He chuckled through his half eaten dinner. She shook her head and took another bite of her food. Edward and Emily fell into a conversation on alchemical reactions and lost track of time. Soon the day turned into the deepest night and Emily couldn't hold open her eyes any longer.

"you should probably turn in, you've had a rough day." Ed said while pointing to the unused bed with his thumb.

"Thanks." she yawned as she stood and disposed of her empty to go plate and fork. She managed a slow walk to the bed and fell into it. Hugging the pillow close to her as she closed her tired eyes. Her world faded to black as she slowly fell asleep.

In her dream there was a deep black void that seemed to ooze a sick looking slime, teeth formed at the edges and clamped shut on each other. The vision pulled away to reveal a massive stomach of a bald man. When she looked closer she noticed that it was the same man from before, Gluttony, who smiled at her in the odd face splitting in half way he had smiled before.

"Lust isn't here to tell me not to eat you little worm, and you look so tasty." His mouth grew larger and larger as he spoke until it looked like he would simply swallow her whole. She tried to scream and run away but the faster she kicked out with her legs the closer he got to her, and the greater he grew. She shuddered, holding her arms over her head and braced herself for the impact that was to come.

(End of chapter 3, please review and tell me what you think!)


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

Emily sat up quickly in her bed, fresh sweat dripping down her face as her breathing slowly slowed from hyperventlating to something of a normal speed. She fell back into the sheets and sighed heavily as one of her thin wrists rested upon her forehead. It was the same dream, the same dream that had haunted her for the full six months she had lived in central. It was to the point that she expected it as she fell asleep at night yet it still gained the same reaction from her as she awoke. She lay there feeling defeated, not for the first time in the half a year she had been living in her uncles home, and wanted to cry. She wanted to but te tears would not come. after her parents death she couldn't even force herself to cry. Sitting up took a moment, it felt as if her body had simply given up as she forced herself into the simple position, but after she was there she could slump slightly over and click on the light that took up most of her nightstand.

The light that flooded the room revealed a large book on her nightstand with a rough leather cover. A copy of her fathers Alchemical notes she had borrowed from her dear friend Alphonse not two weeks before. She ran her fingers across the rough leather surface and thought of her dear father for a moment before forcing herself up and out of the room. The floor was like ice on her bare feet as she made her way down the hall to her bathroom. The light was bright and harsh in this room causing her to squint as she shuffled towards the sink and turned on the stream of cold water. She splashed a hefty helping onto her cheeks and shook her head to releve herself of the lingering dream. The wall clock was on five fifty causing her to groan as she read it.

"I'm up way too early." She muttered to herself before yawning. She had no intentions of going back to sleep with the dream so fresh in her mind, however her new living arragements where lonely at best. She was all alone in a four bedroom house with nothing furnishing it but plain looking furniture and a few plaques from her uncle Alberts rewards. She found herself reading over one he acheived for valor. The words didn't quite sink in as her eyes scanned over them.

A knock on the door caused her to jump. The house had been so quiet that the soft knocking was like a parade drum, echoing through the house. She found herself shuffling towards the door just as snother even louder knock boomed through the quiet rooms. she moved slowly towards the front room of the house, her hands shaking as the memory of her dream seeped fresh into the front of her mind. the knocking pounding in her ears like her own beating heart.

The light coming from the street lights outside cast long ghastly shadows across the nearly bare floor of her living room. She stuck to these shadows as she moved towards the door which she could see moving with each pound it received from the outside. She was close enough to touch the finely grained wood of its surface. Her fingers twitched as she slowly raised her right hand to reach towards the cool metal door knob, just as the last booming knock sent the door flying from its hinges like a peice of scrap paper in a hurricane. She was blown back against the far wall just by the force of it, sheilding her eyes from the blinding flash of light that she knew meant an alchemy circle had been activated. Shards of the doorframe landed on her arms and legs as she sheilded herself from the blast.

"Emily!" his voice had her whipping her head up and sheilding her eyes from the glairing street lights now shining through the hole where her door used to be. Standing in the middle of the light was a tall form with glowing eyes and what appeared to be a bag slumped over its shoulder.

"Alphonse?" She sheilded her eyes as she stood. Bringing her now close friend into sharper focus. He had his brother slumped over his shoulder and a line of blood running down his chestplate staining the metal a dark crimson/brown as it dried. Her eyes grew wide as she watched a fresh stream run over the shiny metal armor," What happened to him?" she gasped as she rose to her feet quickly, slipping on chips of wood as she did so.

"I'm so sorry Emily, there was a truck and Envy and a metal lamp post." Alphonse stuttered as he moved Edward uncerimoniously towards the couch and laid him out on it carefully. emily followed closely behind the metal man as he preformed these tasks and almost fainted when she noticed the large hole in Edwards lower stomach. Alphonse seeped with nervousness as he bounced from foot to foot behind her. she dropped to her knees and placed one hand on the warm flow of blood. He groaned and shifted below her hand causing it to slip over the hole. She jumped back landing on her butt on the cold tiles.

"Can, can you fix him?" Alphonse was looking down at her, his odd glowing eyes much too close in the semi darkness. She pulled herself back up and onto her knees next to the couch and looked closely at Edwards ever paling face.

"Why did you come to me?" She asked as she tried and failed to keep her voice steady. She was no doctor, she didn't understand what she was supposed to do.

"You have been studying your fathers notes, i i thought that you could.." Alphonse drifted into silence and mearly pointed at his brother.

"I'm no Alchemist Alphonse! Besides dad used animal parts as a substitute." She rubbed her sweat cover forehead with the back of her clean hand. It was too late to drive Edward to the hospital, and Alphonse wasn't going to be any help. She looked quickly around for anything that may be of some help, mentally checking off what she would need to partch him up.

"Alphonse, I need you to do some things for me as quickly as possible. I need you to go turn on my oven and set some knives inside it, then you need to gather some clean sheets from that closet in the front hall and a clean towel from the bathroom, I need my sewing kit from my room and a bottle of alcohol, along with the roll of gauze in the bathroom medicine cabnet. Can you do all that?" She turned to him talking quickly as she ran through her plan in her mind over and over.

"Y-yeah i think so." He stuttered as he rubbed his gloved hands together nervously.

"Then go!" She watched him jump and run from the room before letting a worried look cross her face. She closed her eyes for a moment in a silent prayer, She did not want to be the one that Edward died on, "its so much blood." she practically whined the words as she listened to Al banging through her house.

"Is it that bad." She jumped and looked into Edwards barely open golden eyes. He was looking at her with his mouth slightly open, a bubble of blood was at the corner of his lips and grew then shrunk with each breath he took.

"you're, You're going to be just fine Ed." She said softly, reaching out to brush back his bangs as he closed his eyes.

"Liar." He chuckled, sounding more like a pained animal crying than a human chuckling.

"He woke up?" She jumped and turned to see Al standing, with his arms full of her supplies, in the hallway. he seemed to try to become smaller as her eyes looked over him. She nodded slowly and tilted her head to the end table nearby her.

"place them over there and then i need you to go watch the knives, They need to be a glowing red before i can use them, and wrap them in table cloths before you bring them in here ok." He nodded and rushed to follow her commands. She waited until he was gone before she turned back to Ed. She reached for the bottle of rubbing alcohol and splashed some on her hands before grabbing one of the three sheets Al had brought her and lining her work area with it, blocking Edwards line of sight as she did so. She ripped the second of the sheets into strips and soaked a few in alcohol to wipe his wound clean. She winced as the now dilluted stream of fresh blood ran down his pale skin. She moved onto folding the towel neatly and sliding it carefully under his side. She took the extra strips from the second sheet and wrapped her palms carefully in them. she opened her sewing kit and found a long needle, which she carefully bent into the best arc she could and drenched in Alcohol as well.

"Its not as bad as it looked." She told the unconcious Edward as she pressed beside his wound carefully. She prodded into it with her index finger and measured the best she could how deep it was. she pulled her didgit out of him and frowned at the dark red sheen around it.

Al came in carrying four knives, each red hot and covered by the handles in thick cloths. He sat them down on the last sheet as she instructed and moved to stay out of the way. as she reached for the first one, She pressed the blade into his wound and winced at the sizzling sound and smell of cooking meat. she repeated this with the rest of the knives until his wound was cauturized fully. She poured the alcohol over a spool of thread and treaded it through the needle before turning to the gash that finally stopped bleeding. she carefully sewed the skin, knotting it every stitch to keep it closed and burned the thread when she finished te last knot. she wiped the now sealed wound with one of the cloths and sat back sighing.

"Will he be okay?" She turned to look at Al and shrugged. He literally shook with his pent up energy as he sat awkwardly on her uncles dirt brown couch.

"I don't know for sure yet. Lets get him in Uncle Alberts room and we will take turns watching him, only time can tell now." She stood and stretched, popping her back and looking towards her ruined front door, "I think we should at least get him out of the front room, I don't want to be the house that attracts all th nosey people in the neighborhood." Alphonse simply nodded and moved to carefully lift his brother bridal style before turning to look down at her. She in turn tilted her head and led him through the house to her uncles unused bedroom. she stood in the doorway as he gently laid his brother on the big bed and backed away.

"Maybe you should go tell, someone." She stated softly when she saw his large metal head lower. He turned to look at her, who in turn shrugged.

"Colonel Mustang will kill me, and then brother." Al stated as he rubbed his hands together again. she stepped up to him and patted his large shoulder comfortingly.

"I'm sure he will kill you faster if he finds out about this from someone else." she shrugged, saddened by the fact she couldn't think of something better to say to the sad giant. He looked down at her for a moment before looking away.

"I'll, fix your door, while im headed out." he shuffled past her and down the hall, she listened to his booming steps grow softer and softer as he traveled through the house.

She turned and pulled a rocking chair up to the bed and sat down, pulling a pillow to her chest before leaning forward to study his sweat covered face. She bit her thumb and tried to figure out if that was a good sign. She leaned in close to study his pigment when his eyes popped open. She froze, her nose millimeters from his own, and turned crimson red. He looked at her in shock at first but soon his features formed something closer to a smirk.

"Thats something I never thought I would wake up to." He rasped softly. She pinched her lips together and sat back hard enough in the chair to set it rocking.

"I was just, checking your pigment, trying to see if you where getting your color back." She stated quickly without looking at him, it was the truth but she felt her face getting hotter as she spoke.

"Thanks," he said as he looked up at the white ceilling above them," I think you saved my life." she was thrown by his sudden statement and simply sat there staring at him with her mouth slightly open. He laughed and held his wound with a pained look on his face," Whats wrong, never been thanked before?"

"I just wasn't expecting those words from you." She rubbed her neck and propped her feet on the metal frame of her uncles bed," You want to let me know what happened?" She asked.

"Its of no concern to you, trust me." He looked away from her as he spoke the words. She lowered her head sadly, When the Elric brothers didn't want to say something, then they never uttered the words.

(END OF CHAPTER 4  
Im sorry for the delay. I had a bad case of writers block but im back now! i hope you enjoyed this chapter and I also hope you will feel free to reveiw!)


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5:

Edward was still in the bed when Roy Mustang finally made his appearance. Emily had been reading one of her fathers journals and fell asleep with her face pressed against the open pages. Her hand rested on the blankets just inches from Edwards own feaverish didgits. Roy looked upon the two sleeping teenagers and shook his head. Alphonse stood behind him glancing around the room, the sheets over his brothers body had a light pink stain forming over his wound causing Al to wonder what his brother had been doing to cause his wound to open.

"Do you want to tell me what happened?" Roy looked at the metal giant as he spoke, Al in turn jumped and looked around even more nervously.

"Its a long story." Alphonse watched his brothers face carefully, the sweat covering his forehead shone in the dim light making his blonde haired brother appear to be made of wax, his features seemed almost molded in the dim light.

"We have to get him to the hospital before he gets any worse, but all three of you have some explaining to do when he is up and moving." Roy looked upwards at the cobwebbed ceilling as he spoke, "If you can get past our little Emily here then get Edward and move him to the car." Al jumped at his command and scooped up his older brother as if he was a baby and made his way awkwardly around Roy to exit the room. When they where alone, Roy removed his jacket and laid it over the sleeping girls shoulders before turning on a heel and following the brothers out of the house.

Emily awaoke with a start, dropping the heavy coat from her shoulders and onto the floor with a loud clank of metals on wood. The sound scared her enough to cause her to stop and look down at the now pool of blue wool and shiny metal for a moment before she remembered why she was in the old bedroom in the first place. She turned quickly to find an empty bed, with only a drying blood stain to show where Edward once lay. The few words Alphonse had told her ran through her mind, Envy's name was the loudest thought in her head, She knew that Envy was a Humunculi, and what a humunculi was thanks to the few books she and Al had read while Edward slept in the Central library.

Her heart pounded as she searched her house for the short blonde, When each room turned up empty she felt the weight of the world rest upon her shoulders sending her slumping into the ground.

"What do i do.." She muttered as she bit onto her thumbnail. Alphonse would be mad if he knew she had lost his big brother, not to mention Colonel Mustang would be furious if the Full Metal Alchemist suddenly turned up missing. She paced back and forth in front of her phone, wondering if she should call someone, and who that someone should be exactly.

Al stood beside his brother as he lay in the hospital bed. Roy, jacketless, stood nearby talking with Hawkeye in hushed whispers. He knew full well what they where disscussing. His lack of thought when he brought his brother to Emilys house, she did not know anything about alchemy and barely seemed to know anything about medical care when she was fixing Edwards side. He wondered vaguely what she was doing now, had she awoke to find them all gone or was she still asleep with her head resting on the old bed that she had him set Edward on. he stood then and stepped away from the hospital bed. Roy raised an eyebrow at him questioningly but he just waved off the look and ran from the room. The hallway was empty of nurses and doctors which made it easy for him to run through without worry. His large metal feet scraped the tile floor and made a horrid sound as he slid to a stop infront of the stairs. He bounded down them four at a time, the urgency to get to Emliy grew as he thought over what had happened once again:

Edward had been estatic about some new finding he had from an unmarked Alchemy journal and had been loudly making his way down the street towards their shared apartment. Al had been following behind him with his nose in a book, diligently reading through some notes that had caught his eye. Neither heard the truck until its screeching wheels came to a stop infront of Al. From inside the cab came an odd laughter. Then the blinding lights where cut off as Envy and Gluttony emerged from the inside of the trucks cab. Edward had frowned at them and there where words shared between the short alchemist and the two Humunculi. Edward had clapped his hands together and formed his well know spear. Envy was who he went after with it, waving his spears tip so that the humunculi had to jump back or risk his stomach being torn open with its sharp point. Gluttony had went after Al, his cold beady eyes glinting in the darkness as he drew closer to him. He had been holding the fat little man off when the sound of screeching tires had filled the air once more. Envy had been ontop of the hood with a sharp broken end of the spear pointing downward towards Edward. Al remembered thinking that maybe Lust was driving since those three seemed to always be together, then as he watched the pole slid into Edwards side like it was made of butter. Then the truck wheel was going over Edwards metal arm. The front bumper was slamming into his face and then he dissipeared under it. The truck had stopped nearby the now frozen Alphonse and Gluttony jumped inside the bed. Shortly after it was gone, the street was empty of everything but his own metal body and his brothers bloodied mangled one.

He found himself outside of Emilys door as his memory came to an end. The sound of the trucks tires still played in his mind as he pounded on the door. She opened it after his third knock, her eyes where hollow and fresh tears still clung to her cheeks. She looked as if she had seen a ghost as those eyes landed on his metal face.

"Al." She gasped as her hand snapped up to cover her mouth. She closed her eyes and leaned on the door, allowing it to open fully to give him room to come in," I'm so sorry Al, he, he's gone." Another set of large tears rolled down her cheeks. He pulled her into the house and sat her on the couch which groaned with her weight. After shutting the door he turned to her once again.

"Shh," he cooed as he petted her head as gently as he possibly could," It's okay Emily, Edward is fine, Roy came and we took him to the Command hospital. He's okay. You did a good job." She turned to him then, wiping her wet face with her sleeve as she did so.

"He, he's okay." She said softly. Al nodded with a soft pat on her shoulder. She smiled softly at this and laid her head back against the couch back. It looked like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders as her body slumped into the apolstry. He wondered vaguely just how long she had been stressing about Edawrds dissipearance alone in her home. He stood, holding his hand out to her without saying anything. She looked up at him then, looking confused and a bit worried as her sunken eyes gazed up at his metal face.

"Come on, we will go see him." He stated as he rubbed his helment. She reached up to grasp his hand, using it to pull herself into a standing position. She wiped her face once again on her sleeves and nodded. Silently she followed him out of her house and down the long stretch of sidewalk leading towards the hopital. Both had alot on their minds as they moved through the darkness.

(I must appologize for my lack of posting before now, I had a terrible case of writers block which was only soothed after a bit of RP-ing on Mocospace. I cannot promise chapter six will be up right away but please be paitent, I will have it up within the week.)


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6:

Edward was awake when they walked into the hospital room. His bright gold eyes lingered on Emily for a moment too long, making her look away. She had remembered to grab Roys coat before they left and used that as an excuse not to look at the blonde in the hospital bed. She smiled politely and thanked the older man for covering her when he did not have a need to and then she moved on to speak to Hawkeye in a shushed voice. Mainly she asked how he was doing and if the doctors found anything wrong with her hasty first aid.

Alphonse, for his part, went directly to his brothers side and sat in the rolling stool that was the only chair around that could hold his massive body. He grabbed his brothers hand and squeezed ever so slightly to get the blondes attention, which was still focused on the brown haired silver eyed girl standing awkwardly in front of the two officials.

"How are you feeling?" Al asked in as much of a cooing voice as he could manage. Edward waved away his question with his good left arm and then hung that arm over his eyes.

"Winry is going to murder me." he groaned as he moved his arm to look down upon his crushed automail one. Al nodded as solemnly as he could. The blonde automail mechanic would slaughter Ed and then fix his arm as she always did. Edward was a bit frightened of the skinny blonde girl who he only saw when he had to. She was their childhood friend but his poor short older brother saw her as a torturer. He glanced behind him at Emily, now standing awkwardly in the doorway, waving goodbye to Roy and Hawkeye as they make their way down the hallway towards the exit. She turned and her bright silver eyes met Als glowing ones. She looked sad and worried and uncomfortable all at the same time, and would not look at Al for long before looking away.

"Whats wrong with you? Geez you saved my skin and you act like you're the one who attacked me." They both jumped at Edwards voice. The blonde alchemist for his part, was looking away from both of them and out the window beside his bed. Emily opened her mouth to speak but closed it without uttering a word. What she wanted to say was not something that her metallic friend needed to hear. In fact she did not want anyone but the short blonde to hear the words that where playing through her mind.

"I think I will go call Winry, may as well get it over with right?" Al stood as he spoke. She jumped wondering if he could hear her thoughts. He simply walked past her and closed the door, leaving her alone with Edward and the ticking of the medical monitor he was hooked to.

"You can stop looking so nervous now." He muttered after the door clicked closed. She moved to take the empty stool that Alphonse had occupied not long before. Awkwardly she placed her hands in her lap, not knowing what else to do with them. Her eyes locked on her interlocked fingers instead of his face, which was turned towards her expectantly.

"I could have killed you, I had no idea what i was doing." she bit her bottom lip after the words tumbled out. The memory of how scared she was as she patched him up came back to her making her hands tremble.

"But, you didn't." His voice caused her to look up. He was smiling and lifting the blanket to show off his freshly wrapped side," You kept me alive long enough to get here. Your dad would have been proud of you." She found herself smiling at his words.

"Well, if you weren't as tough skinned as you are it could have been worse." She feebly joked. He chuckled and pulled himself into a sort of half sitting position so that his eyes where level with hers. She looked down, but back up again shortly after," Edward?" she asked softly.

"Yeah?" he asked as he settled into his large stack of pillows once again.

"You're a good alchemist and all, I was wondering if you might find the time to maybe teach me?" she stumbled over the words as she asked the question, her eyes found her hands once again. Her memory of her father preforming alchemy on patients at his clinic came it her mind. He was a doctor and an alchemist and a kind hearted man. She wanted to be like him and her mother instead of a scared little girl when faced with something like she was faced with recently. Edward was her wake up call, she couldn't just slide by on her uncles salary without doing anything with her life. She had to stand up for something, she had to do something, anything to keep the memory of her dear parents alive.

"Are you sure you want to learn?" He asked in a dead serious tone. She nodded, still too far in her thoughts to speak to him. Al opened the door to see the two looking at each other from across the short distance that separated them. He made a coughing sound causing Emily to jump and turn in the stool to face him. She smiled and stood to make her way over to him, patting his metal arm with her right hand.

"I think i better go home, you and Edward need time alone." She said softly. Al nodded watching the early morning light that seeped through the window play across her face. She stepped past him after a moment and dissipeared down the hallway. The soft pitter patter of her footsteps echoed as she made her way to the stairs and downward.

Emily lay across her bed hours later, watching the sunlight dance across the ceiling of her small room. Alchemy did interest her as it had since she was a child, but now it was something more. Alchemy could be a way to bring her closer to her parents. She sat up in her bed, looking down at the green journal on her nightstand. Her fathers handwriting awaited her between the worn pages. She touched its smooth worn surface and allowed a small smile to grace her lips as a tear slid down her cheek. Memories of her father playing around with her in his office, showing her how to make the perfect transmutation circle as her mother looked on from the doorway filled her mind. The circle her father had showed her was one to make a wooden doll.

She looked down at her hand and wondered if she could do that simple circle without her fathers help, wondered if she could even preform alchemy at all. These thoughts led her to finding a piece of chalk and to draw a circle in the floor of her bedroom. She filled it in with everything she could remember from the one her father constantly showed her. Finally after a long thirty minutes the circle looked complete to her. She let out a long breath and placed her hands on the outer part of the circle, opening herself up for the energies to flow through her body as her father had told her to. A bright flash of silver light filled the room for a moment before dimming down and making the small space seem darker than before. She had squeezed her eyes shut against the glare but now forced one open to look down nervously at what was between her open hands.

The thing was gruesome, a mass of charred bent wood that did not form any shape she had ever seen before. What she thought where the arms where sticking up from its disfigured head and then bending down to meld with its body. She batted it away in disgust and pulled her knees up to her chest as she leaned back against the frame of her bed. Something was wrong with her circle, or maybe it was herself that something was wrong with. She thought of how easily her father had preformed his alchemical miracles when she was little. He has told her when she was young that the science of alchemy ran in her blood. She wondered now if he could have been wrong about that all together, obviously she couldn't even make a simple doll. The phone rang, cutting off her train of thought with its insistent droning tone. She pulled herself from the cold floor and made her way through the house to the front room and picked up the phone, placing its cold receiver to her ear.

"Hello." She said softly.

"Emily! Its your Uncle Al! I'm getting some leave time so I'm coming home!" A smile crossed her face at her uncles enthusiasm. She leaned against the table beside the long couch and chuckled.

"Sounds great uncle. When should I expect you?" she asked.

"Tomorrow." was his happy reply. She found herself talking to him for about an hour more over nothing at all. When she finally hung up on him with a promise to cook him a home cooked meal when he came home it was already midday and the hot sun beat down on her from the front windows. She found her best boots and set out on a walk to the park nearby the hospital. It was a nice day and she could be close in case Al needed her for anything. The disfigured mass of charred wood under her bedside table was all but forgotten as she walked off into the bright sunny day.

(This chapter came a bit easier to me, I will continue to try to deliver chapters as long as my readers continue to enjoy the story that i am weaving for you. As always please review!)


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7:

Emily sat at the train station with a small silver bag clasped in her hands. Her uncle had a love for watches so as a welcome home gift she had purchased him one with his initials engraved on the back. It had been a long time since she had seen one of her family members, and although she still missed her parents dearly she thought it was nice to see her dear uncle again. Her fingers twisted around the string on the bag as the time slowly ticked by. She looked up at her two companions, Edward stood stoic with his automail arm in a sling and his good leg in a cast. White bandages covered his skin in odd patches and the bottom half of his stomach was wrapped tightly like a mummy. Alphonse was as blank as ever, being covered by his large suit of armor. She wondered when he ever took it off and just how tall he was to move so freely in the armor.

"So your uncle is a soldier?" Edward asked as he leaned against the bench where she sat. He did not look at her as he spoke. He hadn't really looked at her since she asked him to be her teacher. She looked down in embarrassment as she thought of her poor attempt at alchemy she had done after asking him, he would have his hands full if he ever started teaching her the science of alchemy.

"Yeah, he has been away fighting the rebels in the eastern desert." She said softly as she watched yet another train arrive. Her uncles train was delayed, a billboard in the office of the train station stated that it was due to rail malfunctions, so her wait had been extended from about ten minutes to well over two hours. The two brothers had stayed with her through this even though Winry, the over exuberant mechanic, wasn't scheduled to show up until later in the day.

She looked up as a train pulled in nearby, a hiss of steam blowed in her face as the engine died down. She watched with mild interest as the passengers unloaded, many bustling around each other just to get to where they where going, until she saw a tall man in a military uniform with spiky blackish brown hair and bright green eyes that where hidden behind a pair of wire rimmed glasses. He towered over many of the other passengers and easily made room for himself with his broad shoulders. She remembered riding on those shoulders as a little girl. And she also remembered the smile that now took over the mans face.

"Uncle Albert!" She exclaimed as she lept from her seat to run into the mans waiting arms. He wrapped them around her with a hearty laugh and picked her up, easily twisting them both around in a circle right in the middle of the loading area.

"Hey squirt! miss me?" She chuckled at her old nickname and squeezed him tighter. His stubble along his chin scraped her shoulder, tickling her skin like it always use to.

"Of course i did who wouldn't miss the puppy of the family." She giggled and rubbed his head like he was an actual puppy. She forgot about her companions during her short family reunion. She jumped from his arms and held up the silver bag up to him with a broad smile," I got you something uncle Al." She stated happily as he reached for it. He opened the bag and pulled out the white paper that she had used to hide the gift inside and his face lit up like a light had suddenly shined down just on him.

"You remembered." He said as he pulled the watch from the bag and turned it over in his hands. She smiled as he read the engraved initals and slipped the watch onto his wrist. He stuck the bag into his pocket folded in half and rubbed her head playfully," Missed you squirt." He stated as he moved to grab his suitcase. She stood waiting on his return, and did not notice Edward behind her until he spoke.

"So that's your uncle huh?" She jumped and turned to the blonde Alchemist.

"Yeah, that's my dads younger brother." She said with a shrug. Edward nodded standing stiffly beside her. She wondered why he was acting so strange, his normally joking personality had become hard and formal.

"You look a lot like him." She smiled up at Alphonse who had seemed to sense her unease o and came to her aid.

"Yeah i took after my dad a lot and they look alike." She chuckled uneasily and smiled as her uncle reappeared. The awkward air the Ed had cause all ceased when her uncles playful air mingled with their own. She introduced the boys to him and he joked with Alphonse about being the "new star" around. He offered to take the boys with them to lunch, which Edward respectfully denied. She soon found herself watching as the brothers walked away, leaving them standing in the middle of the train station. Albert took her by the shoulder and led her out and towards a line of yellow taxis waiting to pick up fares.

"Nice boys." He stated as they settled into the backseat of the cab. She shrugged, not really sure how she should respond, she didn't want her dear uncle to think that something was going on that wasn't.

"They are good friends of mine I met when I moved here." She said as she turned to look out of the window. The cab had pulled away from the curb and they where now passing by buildings a bit too quickly to look closely at any certain one," Edward is hopefully going to teach me alchemy since dad isn't.." She broke off without finishing her sentence, her throat was suddenly tight and she had to blink away tears, which surprised her, her sadness hadn't been this aggressive in weeks, perhaps it was due to the fact that her uncle was now sitting beside her, a living reminder of her father in almost every way.

The ride to Brios diner was a long quiet one. The tension in the car had started when she mentioned her father and had grown thick enough to cut with a knife. She should have know to stay away from the topic because he shared her pain. He had lost a brother and a sister in law. She was almost overly relieved to see the diners sign. The cab pulled to a stop and she couldn't get out quickly enough. Her uncle stayed inside for a moment, paying the driver no doubt.

"Ahh, i remember this place from when i was a kid." He stated as he stepped up beside her to gaze at the diner. She was taken aback by this, she had all but forgotten that her father was born and raised in central, in fact the house her uncle now owned was where they grew up. She looked up at him expecting to see a smile for the old memories but his face was blank and emotionless," Shall we eat?" He asked when he noticed her looking at him.

"Yeah." she said and followed him into the busy place. They had to wait for a seat but he assured her it was worth it. After about a half hour of waiting they where led to a table towards the back of the diner. He ordered a coffee and a toasted egg sandwich with cheese and ham. She ordered a cup of tea and a bowl of the sup of the day with a grilled cheese sandwich. As they waited for their orders an awkward silence fell between them. He pulled off his glasses and cleaned them slowly. She watched the others around the Diner as she played with a napkin. The dull murmur of the conversations around her filled her ears as she folded the napkin into a swan and then a butterfly. The woman server who brought their drinks commented on her creativity to which she just politely smiled. Her tea was steaming in the cup which she held in her hands tightly to warm them. Her uncle just downed his coffee and looked over at her as if he expected her to do the same with her own drink. She took a careful sip of the hot liquid and scalded her tongue right away.

"owch." she said under her breath as she sucked in air and let it out slowly. He raised an eyebrow and adjusted his glasses carefully. She scrunched her nose slightly and took a second sip from the cup. This sip tasted a bit funny and it caused her lips to feel odd. She pulled them in, tightening her mouth and then let them out again. After a third sip her whole mouth felt fuzzy and there was an odd taste in the back of her throat. She looked at her uncle who seemed fuzzy to her, in fact everything seemed to be getting fuzzy around her. Her eyelids became heavy and her head swam. Soon she couldn't hold her eyes open. Her head rested on the table as her world slowly went dark.

Ed looked out of the window of Roy's office as Hawkeye went over the list of casualties again. The boring job of filing the papers Roy had actually gotten around to filling out was driving him crazy. Alphonse did not seem to mind but he did have two working arms and no skin to get paper cuts. Hawkeyes droning on made him even more bored, his brain felt like it was melting.

"I'm so bored." he graoned as he laid his head on the table. Alphonse patted his back gently and nodded his head.

"Boys please be quiet, you are the ones who earned this reprimand by running off to the west without telling anyone or filling out a leave form." Hawkeye snapped quickly. She coughed to clear her throat and to the disappointment of an equally bored Roy Mustang, continued with her list," Hackles Tomnas. Hagraven Albert, Hall Wilson.."

"Wait, did you say Hagraven?" Edward shot up into a straighter sitting position with his eyes locked on the female officer. She looked back over her papers and nodded.

"Yes, Albert Hagraven death on the battlefield." she stated as she looked up," oh that must have been Emily's uncle, poor dear." She said after a moment of thought.

"That's impossible." He stated flatly.

"Are you saying our intelligence office is wrong Edward." She asked in what could only be discribed as 'the mom voice'.

"He couldn't have died on the battlefield, we just saw him an hour ago, Emily met him at the train station." Alphonse said meekly as he held up his hands. Edward thought back to what had bothered him so much at the train station. Alberts eyes seemed too black and when the light hit them they looked like they where a dark purple color, plus the fact that he had worn one glove that did not quite cover a tattoo on his right hand and had left his left hand bare.

Edward shot up like a rocket and bounded out of the room. Leaving Hawkeye and Roy stunned and not slowing down for Alphonse who had followed behind the blonde torpedo. He had to get to Emily before it was too late, they had come for her once and now they had come for her again. Did they intend to use her as a sacrifice and try again?

(thank you for reading this chapter *whoot chapter seven heating stuff up!* i hope you enjoyed this because it came far easier than the last three before it. I will be posting chapter 8 and another whole fan fiction sometime within this week so be ready, and as always Please Review, i have no idea what you think of my work if you don't and i would really like for everyone to enjoy Emily's story!)


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